What should a charity be able to say without being accused of being "political"? I'm comfortable that charities should not be party political. On the other hand, when a charity speaks out about the impact of government policy, whatever the party in power, it opens itself up to attack.

Maybe its because I've hit 40 that I've developed this 'what is the world coming to?' response to much of what I hear in the news. You know the feeling? Its similar to the one when you don't recognise any of the celebs on the front of Hello! magazine any more.

The decision to hand over the court interpreting contract to Capita is simply yet another example of the bull-headed belief that subcontracting out services to private firms always leads to a sleeker, more efficient service.

Just before the turn of the year the Ministry of Justice and Department for Work and Pensions produced a joint analysis of the criminal records of benefit claimants. This was the first joint report of its kind.